Finishing up Florida

Hello, folks! Boy, life just keeps truckin' along, doesn't it?  One of my many goals is to catch up and stay caught up on my little blog.  I have a lot of work to do! I want to finish up my Florida Vacation posts first since it was almost a year ago!!! 

One of the things we were most excited about visiting Florida was the chance to see one of the last Shuttle launches! So, to get us ready for the launch, we spent a whole day at the Kennedy Space Center a few days before.  We loved it!!  They were, of course, preparing for the launch and the shuttle was already on the launch pad.  We thoroughly enjoyed the museums, the tours, and we even saw a real live astronaut!

The boys were so excited about all things space after going to the Kennedy Space Center! We are glad we were able to get a good background before seeing first hand people going to space!  The day of the launch was kind of crazy.  It was scheduled for 5:00pm, so we left around 10am.  The drive is about an hour and we wanted to hit Cocoa Beach beforehand.....we almost didn't make it in time!!!  The traffic was so terrible, that it took us until 4:30 to get there!!  It was crazy!  At one point, I was so sick of being in the car and not going anywhere, that I literally got out and walked a little way until Ryan caught up with me in the van!  But, once we got to Titusville, we staked our spot and watched history unfold.  It was incredible to be there and see it with our own eyes and feel the earth shake and hear the rockets!!!   So cool!!

Next Stop...Hollywood Studios!

Disney's Hollywood Studios was such a fun park!  We watched an American Idol audition show, rode Tower of Terror, and played on the Toy Story ride.  We also ate at a fun restaurant where we were transported back to the 1950s where we supped at the kitchen table on pot roast and we were not allowed to put our elbows on the table and we had to stand in the corner if we didn't clean our plates!  So funny (and yummy!)

The shows were great too!  We watched a darling version of Beauty and the Beast, and you can't beat Fanstasmic! We had a great time!

We were winding down on our wonderful family vacation, but the most magical place was still to come.  We loved the Magic Kingdom! Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Small World, Haunted Mansion....I could go on and on!

The most memorable ride was the Lilo & Stitch ride.  It had been talked up quite a bit, so we didn't want to miss it....We now wish we HAD missed it!  You are placed in this small auditorium, tightly strapped into your seat when supposedly, Stitch gets loose and turns out the lights and spits and jumps on you....not fun!  But we did laugh about it the rest of the trip.  If you are going to Disneyworld, skip this ride: consider yourself warned!

However, that was the only low point!  We had a blast, as you can see...

We finished the day with a wonderful walk down memory lane.  I grew up watching the Electric Lights Parade and this just took me back!!  I vividly remember the snail float and the music and watching it with my boys was so fun!! Disney Rocks!

We also visited the Orlando Temple on our trip (once with all of the kids, and then again to do baptisms with the girls).  What a great part of our trip!  It was neat to take a break from parks and nonstop fun to do something spiritual! And what a beautiful building!

As you can see, it was a FANTASTIC trip!!  I know I've said that over and over, but it really was! Our little family really needed it and I wouldn't trade the memories for anything!